In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Set aside 1-1/2 cups; pour remaining batter over crust.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate; stir in preserves until blended. Stir in reserved batter just until blended. Drop by tablespoonfuls over the plain batter (do not swirl). Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan.

Bake at 325° for 65-75 minutes or until center is just set and top appears dull. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer.

For topping, place chocolate in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, bring cream just to a boil. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool slightly. Spread over top of cheesecake. Refrigerate overnight. Garnish with raspberries and whipped cream if desired. Remove sides of pan.Yield: 16 servings.

Originally published as Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake in Taste of Home
February/March 2010, p85

"Just made this for lunch for some gals and we all loved it. I used crushed chocolate teddy grahams for crust (and added 2T. sugar). I agree there was a lot of chocolate batter and would decrease that next time. Will definitely make this again."

"I have made this cheesecake twice, and it received raves both times. I did find that there was a lot of chocolate batter, and the chocolate was lighter than I like, so the second time I made it I decreased the amount of batter to 1 cup and added the chocolate mixture , and the taste and amount was perfect. Will definitely make this again"